All the Answers
by thehappypursuit-182
Summary: Somewhere, between crossword puzzles and magazine quizes, they find the answer.


Just some shameless Jogan fluff.

* * *

He can see Logan, sitting at the kitchen table, out of the corner of his eye. And, of course, he's chewing on another number two pencil.

(And, _fuck,_ it shouldn't make him this uncomfortable.)

Quietly, he moves so that his arm is resting against the back of Logan's chair. "Whatcha doing?" He asks, smirking.

"James!" Logan shrieks, jumping. "Uh, when did you get here?"

James shrugs innocently. "Just now. So Logan... what are you up to?"

"Nothing. It's... it's nothing, really," Logan says, sweeping his arms over the piece of paper.

The taller brunette narrows his eyes, smirking. "Really?"

"Really."

"So," James begins, "you wouldn't mind if I took a look?" His hand darts out faster than Logan catch it, and James waves the colourful piece of paper in the other boy's face.

Logan looks mortified. "Give it, James."

"Uh, no," James says, laughing. He gives the paper a quick glance over. _"How to Tell If You're In Love With Her!," _he reads, and sends Logan a mocking glance. "Pop Tiger, Logan? Didn't you make fun of me for reading that?"

Logan glares, cheeks flushed. "I was bored."

"And since when did Pop Tiger start branching out to guys?" James asks, thumbing through the magazine.

"I don't know," Logan shrugs. "Look, can I just have it back now?"

James holds up a hand in surrender. "Fine, fine, have your little quiz back," he passes the slim magazine to Logan, and sits himself down in the chair beside the embarrassed boy. "Besides, Logan- you know you can always come to me for girl advice."

Logan snorts. "Yeah, no thank you." He goes back to his quiz, pencil in hand, a tinge of red decorating his face.

"And what do you mean by that?" James asks, mock offended.

"Well," Logan says, not looking up, "when's the last time you've been on a date?" Looking up, he notes James' smug expression and adds, "That didn't want to attack you before the night was over?"

James frowns, going over calculations in his head. "It's been a while," he admits, looking sheepishly over at Logan. Truth be told, he hasn't really noticed any girls in a while. "That's not the point," he continues, "this is about you coming to me for help- I've got your back, okay?"

"Okay," Logan agrees. "Now, are you gonna just sit there, or do you actually have something to do?"

James grins. "Am I distracting you?"

"No," Logan says, "I was just-"

"Crossword puzzle," James interrupts, noticing Mama K's stash of them littered across the table. "I think I'll do a crossword puzzle."

Logan smiles, eyes crinkling. "You? James Diamond is doing a crossword puzzle?"

"Yeah, yeah," James says, rolling his eyes. "Just pass me one of your pencils, would you?"

The smaller boy sends a number two pencil across the table, and James catches it before it rolls off the edge. "Thanks."

"No problem," Logan mumbles, tapping his own pencil against his chin. James watches him scribble a few answers down before returning to his own paper, smiling inwardly. He skims over the paper, noting the puzzle is called, 'Famous Quotes'. _Forty-six down, _he reads, _"Hello, my name is _ _. You killed my father. Prepare to die." _Smirking to himself, he pencils in Inigo Montoya.

"What?" Logan asks, giving James an amused glance from across the table.

James smiles back, slipping into what he hopes is a suitable imitation. "Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya," he says. "You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Logan laughs, lighting up his whole face, and James beams. "I remember watching that... Kendall and Carlos fell asleep, remember?"

"Of course," James murmurs, "not a romantic bone in their bodies." Eyeing Logan with scrutiny, he adds, "Are you in love with her yet?"

"Excuse me?" The other boy asks, flustered. Raising an eyebrow, James gestures wordlessly to the magazine in front of the other boy. "Oh," Logan replies, softly. "I don't know yet... I'm not finished."

James nods, returning to his puzzle, jotting down _Wuthering Heights_ a moment later. He taps out a rhythm with his hands against his knee, lost in thought, before he hears faint murmurs coming from Logan's direction.

_"Does she pay a lot of attention to her appearance?" _Logan hums, focused. "Of course," he laughs, smiling. _"Do you notice?" _He asks himself, responding with, "Always."

Chuckling to himself, the taller brunette returns to his question, _Thirty-six down: Who said, "We loved with a love that was more than love"?_

"Logan," he calls, breaking the other of his focus. "'We loved with a love that was more than love'... who said it?"

Logan blinks back, owlishly, then smirks. "Poe," he answers. "_Annabel Lee_, I think."

"Thanks," James replies, marking it down.

Logan again returns to his quiz, whispering to himself every so often. _"Do you like her for just her appearance?" _The quiz asks through Logan, and he seems almost annoyed. "Of course not," he answers, voice tight. "What kind of person do you think I am?"

"A boy," James interrupts, lazily. "It's a quiz written by girls, for boys, in the benefit of girls everywhere." Rolling his eyes, he finishes with, "Score one for girl power."

Logan snorts, sending James a smirk. "So much for that," he says, almost conspiratorially.

"Indeed," James agrees, nodding. "What's the next question?"

"Huh? Oh," Logan mumbles, eyes returning to the text, _"Do you support her dreams... even if they don't include you?"_

James raises an eyebrow, perplexed and amused all at once. "Now, what do you suppose they mean by that?"

Logan shrugs, twirling his pencil between his fingers. "Yes," he says, more for himself, but it doesn't stop James from overhearing. "I do."

"Ah," James says, smirking, "then do you _really_ love her?"

The older boy stares him down, confused and calculating all at once. "I'm not done the quiz yet, James."

James rolls his eyes, wanting to press the issue, but this is so unbelievably Logan- methodical, carrying the plan out to a t, never straying. He can't fault his friend for being himself. James picks up his pencil, and scrawls out an answer at the left-hand corner of the puzzle. He toys with it for awhile, erasing and rewriting, before coming up with _Star Trek_. "You almost done?"

"Uh," James replies, startled, "no. Not even close. You're right- I _am_ kinda horrible at this."

"And I'm kinda horrible at this," Logan retorts, waving the quiz back and forth.

The younger boy blinks, then smirks. "Logan, it's either a yes or a no. It's really that simple."

"Cute," Logan replies, sticking out his tongue.

James smirks. "Cute."

"Just shut up and do your crossword puzzle," Logan reprimands halfheartedly.

The taller boy sinks down in his chair, equally bored and annoyed. He spaces out, thinking, instead. His mind turns to Logan, and it's not that much of a surprise- Logan seems to occupy his mind a lot these days. He steals a quick glance at Logan, in all his determined glory, and feels a smile creep its way onto his face. He watches as the smaller boy spins the number two pencil around, a must in the apartment, because _the other kinds of pencils just don't feel right. _Logan, of course. All the idiosyncrasies of their apartment- shoes in the closet arranged by colour, not season; the forks in the left compartment, spoons to the right; items in the fridge being arranged by nutritional value- were all 'Loganisms', things that been arranged to fit within his tight, orderly world.

Logan's world was compact- nothing ever strayed. He liked girls, like most boys did, because it _was_ what most boys did. He most certainly didn't like guys- especially not one of his best friends who had _been waiting six long months for Logan to open his eyes already._

"Done!" Logan exclaims, jumping up from his chair, triumphant.

James smiles, softly. "So do you love her?"

"Just a second, just a second," Logan mutters, his finger flying over the quiz, adding up his total. _"Fifteen to Twenty," _he reads aloud for James' benefit, _"you are completely and totally in love with this girl!"_

"Congratulations," James says, quietly.

Logan holds up a hand to silence him. "I'm not done yet," he admonishes, sending James a playful glare. _"No seriously, we mean it. You're in love with her. Now do yourself- and her!- a favour and ask her out, already! So dust off your boom box, a la John Cusack, and profess your undying love for her!" _Logan laughs. "That's horrible."

"Yeah," James agrees. "Horrible."

Logan sends him a worried look. "James, man, are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick."

"I'm fine," he shrugs, getting up from his chair.

"Are you sure?" Logan asks, gently setting his magazine back down on the table. "What's wrong?" He asks, reaching out to feel James' forehead.

James backs away quickly, sending his chair tumbling to the floor. "Nothing's wrong," he snaps. "Just tired, is all." He heads over to his and Carlos' room, and pauses long enough to call out, "If anyone asks, I'm sleeping."

He can vaguely hear Logan call back, "At ten o' clock in the morning?", before he slams the door behind him.

_It's never him,_ he thinks, sitting down on the edge of his bed. _It's never him that anybody wants. _He's just a go between, a liaison, before they can find someone better. Except, it never really bothered him before- he was using those girls just as much as they were using him. Before, they would leave to go find more stable guys, guys like his band mates. Now it was _Logan,_ off to find a girl like Camille.

A gentle rap sounds out against his door; he ignores it. The door slowly opens, Logan on the other side. "James?"

"Don't you have to go find Camille?" James blurts, refusing to look at Logan.

"What?" Logan asks, taken aback. Then he begins to laugh; small, hysterical rounds of giggling that unnerve the taller boy.

He glares down at his bed, clenching his jaw. _"What?"_

"James," Logan begins, smiling. "You're a fucking _idiot._"

James looks up, confused, and Logan beams back at him. His face is still glowing from his burst of laughter, his eyes crinkling at the edges. Slowly, the older boy brings his hands to James' face, noticing how the other flinches away from the contact. "Do you really think I'd hit you?" Logan asks, bewildered.

"Why wouldn't you?" James asks, searching Logan's eyes for something- some _tell_ that would explain to him what Logan's thinking. He knows, he discovers, he knows.

Quick, nervous laughter spills forth from Logan's lips. "Such a fucking idiot," he murmurs, his lips crashing into James'.

James leans into the kiss, causing Logan to smile. _He knows, _Logan thinks, _he knows. And he's not running away._

"Why?" James murmurs, pulling away from Logan.

If there is one thing that James doesn't know, doesn't understand, it's that Logan's plans have always included him. Logan shakes his head, and smiles up at the other. "Because," he whispers, "I love you, not for what you are, but for what I am when I am with you." He pauses, smiling toothily, taking in James' dazed expression. "Roy Croft, answer to fifteen down."

This is Logan, this is James. Nothing much has changed. They don't have all the answers yet, but they have a lifetime's worth of crosswords, quizes, and number two pencils to find out.

_That's all he's ever wanted. And all **he's** ever needed._

* * *

Thank-you,

-Pursuit


End file.
